Format research-Film magazines

TOTAL FILM’s masthead is commonly white unless the issue features a special release of film such as The Hobbit (Bottom right).

The commonly use metallic or red typography, depending on the genre of the film featured, to attract the audiences attention.

Other common colours used by TOTAL FILM include red, blue and yellow. Primary colours are used as they are complimentary and stand out as bold against the backdrop of the magazine cover.

EMPIRE magazine always uses a red masthead which has become the house style of the magazine. I feel this may be something I wish to include on my magazine as the bold red title stands out and attracts my attention.

This magazine uses a cool filter on their main image for each genre of the film for example, inception (a thriller) uses a cool blue tone while The Hobbit (an adventure) uses a cool tone of sepia.

The coverlines typography is usually a metallic or white shade, in order to stand out against the red and cool toned focal point.

CODES AND CONVENTIONS• MASTHEAD- The masthead will feature on each magazine front cover and indicates the name of the magazine e.g. EMPIRE or COSMOPOLITIAN. The masthead should be the largest text on the page and it can also indicate the audience which the magazine targets.

• MAIN IMAGE- The main image is usually the focal point of the front cover and should relate to the style of the magazine for example beauty and fashion magazines will typically use a mid-shot of a female. Its common for main images on magazines to attract the male or female gaze in order to attract their target audience. In terms of film magazines, the main image is usually am image of the main character featured in the film.

• ‘BUZZWORDS-These words are used usually to attract the audiences attention, examples of Buzzwords include ‘FREE’ and ‘Exclusive’ The purpose of the buzzwords are to attract the audiences attention and encourage them to purchase the magazine.

• ANCHORAGE TEXTAnchorage text typically compliments the main image to give further information, it could be a quote or extract from an interview or text created by the magazine to attract attention.

CODES AND CONVENTIONS• BARCODE, DATE, ISSUE NUMBER-These features are included on every magazine front cover and are essential in order for the magazine to be sold to the audience.

• COVERLINES- Give further information about what’s included in the magazine, these use names of celebrities and further anchorage text.

• COLOUR SCHEME-Each magazine will usually follow a colour scheme or house style and can vary between each issue. This is usually indicated on the front cover and continued throughout the magazine spread.

• FOCAL POINT-The focal point of a magazine front cover is usually the main image but it’s the point of the publication which attracts the most attention.

The masthead ‘HORROR’ uses a sans serif font and a bright white typography which has a backlight affect to it. I feel that this is the focal point of the magazine as it attracts my attention immediately. The crackled effect of the typography links to the genre of horror.

The main image presents a variety of horror characters, the characters all comply to the conventions of a horror ‘villain’. The characters are presented as the ‘evil’ characters within a narrative as oppose to the ‘good’ character, which reinforces the genre of the magazine being a horror magazine. The main image is the focal point of the magazine as it attracts the audiences attention.

The buzzword ‘FREE GIFTS’ is situated at the top of the page above the masthead. this position should help attract the initial attention from the audience then follow the attention to the masthead. The use of buzzwords may encourage the audience to purchase a copy of the magazine. This may also increase the perceived value of the magazine, from the audiences perspective, as they may believe the magazine is worth more due to the free additional gifts offered to them.

The use of red typography links to the idea of blood and reinforces the idea of the horror genre. This theme is continued throughout and also features as an accompanying detail to the main image.

The house style features a blue, red and white colour scheme for the magazine, using cold and bold colours to link to the ideas of horror, thrillers and fear. The white typography stands bold against the low key lighting of the main image and highlights the important information on the page.The coverlines on the page use a bold white typography, linking to the masthead and also stand out against the cold, dark main image. The coverlines use puns such as ‘SLEEPLESS FRIGHTS’ a play on words of ‘Sleepless nights’.

In my opinion the focal point of this magazine is the masthead ‘HORROR’ as the font used overpowers the collage of main images. The font used brightens up the page and distracts the attention from the other features, the masthead initially grabs the audiences attention, then pulls the attention to the centre third of the magazine, as typically the audience read from top to bottom, the audiences attention is then drawn to the bottom third of the magazine.

The masthead ‘Empire’ uses a sans serif bold font, with a shiny metallic effect, which clearly links with the main coverline and puff ‘THE DARK KNIGT RISES THE VERDICT!’ this indicates that this issue of the magazine is a special as the magazine usually features a bold red masthead and accompanying coverlines. The metallic gold font is complimentary of the main image, as it uses cool tones.

The anchorage text ‘THE FINEST MIDDLE-EARTH COVERAGE CONTINUES INSIDE…’ encourages the audience to read on due to the use of an ellipsis and golden metallic font linking the style of the magazine together.

The main image features the main protagonist Bilbo Bagins and Gollum, the characters expressions and use of CGI suggests the genre of the film ‘The HOBBIT’ as an adventure/science fiction film. The cool blue and black tones compliment the use of metallic typography as well as linking to the burgundy tones of Bilbo’s costume.

The use of the buzzword ‘EXCLUSIVE’ may attract the attention of the audience and encourage them to purchase the magazine, due to the promise of receiving exclusive information. The phrase of ‘PRECIOUS EXCLUSIVE’ shows a sense of intertextuality as the phrase ‘my precious’ is the famous catchphrase of the character Gollum.

The use of the barcode, date and issue number is essential for any magazine front cover. In this issue the barcode is located in the left hand third of the magazine just above the main coverline.

While the issue number, date and price is located above the ‘M’ in the masthead. This may be a feature I would consider for my magazine front cover. The format of these features compliment the other features of the magazine as they allow the audience to focus on the main focal points by using space that is otherwise unuseful.

The coverlines ‘PLUS! DREDD TAKEN 2’ etc provide more information for the audience and generates connotations within the audiences mind to other celebrities/films that they may be fans of. This feature could also be further anchorage text as it may encourage the audience to purchase and further read the magazine and articles included.

The colour scheme of this magazine uses a metallic gold typography, white typography and a blue toned image. This front cover sets the house style for the following pages and suggests that the pages may include a similar style of image or typography, this gives the magazine continuity and retains the audiences attention as well as providing a brand image for Empire.

The masthead uses a bold, white sans serif font. The focus of the masthead is on the term ‘FILM’ with an insert ‘TOTAL’ this suggests that the magazine is an established product within the film magazine market. This may be a feature I could consider when producing my magazine, as the bold masthead presents a simple feature which clearly links to the genre of magazine being a film magazine. It also gives an indication of the magazines target audience, being film fans.

The use of the buzzword ‘EXCLUSIVE’ creates excitement from the audiences perspective around the release of this issue of TOTAL FILM.

The main image is also the focal point of the magazine, it features a close up of the main protagonist from the 2009 Star Trek film, Chris Pine. Pine uses direct gaze to engage with the potential audience and grab their attention, although due to his facial expression, you can conclude that his the good character in relation to the theory of good vs evil. the main image is black and white which allows the audience to focus fully upon his facial expression and the surrounding features of the magazine through the use of complimentary white text and red typography.

The anchorage text ‘THE BOLDEST AND COOLEST FILM OF 2009’ uses superlatives to create excitement around the feature of the STAR TREK article. This may draw the audience into the article and encourage them to purchase the magazine, or further encourage the audience to purchase tickets to see the film in cinemas when released.

Other anchorage text includes the text above the masthead ‘UP SHERLOCK HOLMES POTTER 6’ the use of the bold red typography stands out against the black and white backdrop of the main image, while this feature may encourage the audience to purchase the magazine due to their interest being sparked by the articles featured.

The coverlines use a bold white font and do not immediately stand out against the black and white backdrop, however they stand clear against the main image of the protagonist. The coverlines compliment the masthead and the main coverline and links the front cover together.

The puff feature of the magazine ‘4 amazing covers’ encourages the potential audience to purchase 4 copies of the magazine as a collector. The 4 covers include a different main image of the star trek protagonists and pose as complimentary products to each other. Although, the magazines include the same contents, the covers act as merchandise from the perspective of a STAR TREK fan.